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RORY MACK STEELE OPENED HIS EYES. He was lying on his back and there was a ringing in his ears. Where was he? The light at his waist was pointed straight up and all he could see was dust. It hung like a smoky mist in the air and he could taste it on his tongue. His hand went to his waist and he looked down. Why was he wearing a flashlight at all? He saw bloody cuts on his hands. And there were bloody rips through his shirt sleeves. He sat up quickly and grabbed his head as the world went for a spin. What had happened? He struggled to remember. Then he heard a low cough that echoed behind him. Turning his head, he saw a woman struggling to sit up.
Donna-Lou's voice was low and husky as she called out, "Corry? Emma?" Her voice echoed but there was no reply.
It all came flooding back to Rory. The explosion and the others. He looked around and his heart beat harder when he didn't see anyone else. Then he turned to look the other way and saw the kids. Corry and Emma had been flung back to the wall of crates by the explosion. But they weren't moving. He rolled over and began crawling on his hands and knees towards them. He emitted a low cry of pain as sharp shards of rock bit into the flesh of his hands and knees. Struggling to his feet, he shuffled to the kids, "They're here, Donna-Lou," he said. His own voice was raspy from the dense air in the cavern. Reaching the two forms, he knelt down and pulled on Corry's sleeve to get him sitting up, "Corry, you okay?"
The youngster opened his eyes slowly and nodded his head. "Where's my mom...and Emma...?"
Rory shuffled around to the little girl as Donna-Lou reached her son and hugged him.
Emma was limp as Rory sat her up and cradled her in his right arm, pushing her hair away from her face, "Emma? Emma? Are you okay?"
The young girl opened her eyes and swallowed. It took a few moments for her eyes to focus.
"She seems to be okay," Rory said.
"Chet? Where's Chet?" Donna-Lou asked in a panic. "Chet," she called out.
Chet Calhoun suddenly sat up just a few feet away, pieces of rubble falling away from his body, "What? What happened?" He looked around for a few moments in bewilderment. "Oh...right." He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and shook his head gently. Then he opened his eyes and looked around again, "Everyone okay?"
"Yeah. We all look good," Rory said as he looked around at the others.
"Except for that gunman that Old Tuck left to guard us," Chet said as he got his feet. He pointed towards the area where the entrance had been only moments before. A boot was all that was visible of the gunmen, now buried under a ton of exploded rock. Chet walked slowly over to Donna-Lou and the kids and helped them to their feet.
Rory left them and walked to the former entrance area, surveying the damage. He climbed the pile of rubble, looking for a way out over the top, searching for any slight opening, but there was nothing. He stopped his search and carefully moved back down to the cave floor, "It looks like the way we came in is totally blocked. It would take a mining scoop or a bulldozer to move all this rubble."
"I'm sorry," Corry said in a subdued voice. "If I hadn't said anything...."
"No, you did great," Chet said. "In fact, I'm proud of you," he said as he gave Corry a hug.
"He's right," Rory said. "That was some fast thinking. They would have...well...you did great like Chet said."
"But how do we get out?" Donna-Lou asked.
"I said it was great, not perfect," Rory said as he looked at Donna-Lou.
Donna-Lou nodded. "Still better than the alternative," she said and then she bent over, coughing.
Chet walked over and placed his hand on her back, patting it a few times, "You okay?"
Donna-Lou nodded and straightened up, holding her hand to her throat, "It's all this stupid dust." She coughed again and waved her hand in front of her face, trying to clear some of the dust away.
Chet waved his hand at the dust as well as he looked to Rory, "So, what do we do now?"
Rory looked at the pile of rubble, "I'm not sure. It's going to take a lot of digging before we can get out of here."
"Maybe somebody will come looking for the Range Rover," Donna-Lou offered in optimism.
Rory shook his head, "No. Remember what Old Tuck said. The dealership where I rented the vehicle is expecting the state troopers to look for us."
"And those troopers were members of the KGC," Chet added. "The dealership will probably just write the vehicle off through their insurance, figuring the state troopers just couldn't find us."
"And anyone else who does come looking will probably be Knights of the Golden Circle," Rory concluded.
"Oh great," muttered Donna-Lou.
Chet looked at the pile of rubble, "I guess we just have to try to dig our way out."
"Too bad we left the shovels out in the Range Rover," Donna-Lou said. "And all the food and water. I have an idea it's going to take a while."
Chet looked at the kids and then said in a low voice to Rory and Donna-Lou, "How long do you think we can hold out?"
Rory took a deep breath and did some thinking. Then he grimaced, "As Donna-Lou said, we have no food and water. The good news is we can go three weeks without food, so we have three weeks to dig ourselves out. But...we still have a big problem according to the Rule of Threes."
Donna-Lou's brow furrowed, "What's that?"
"As a rule of thumb," Rory said, "you can live 3 minutes without air, you can live 3 hours in a harsh environment without shelter and you can make it 3 weeks without food like I said. So yes, we might make it out. Except...we'll only last 3 days without water." He glanced at the pile of rubble, shaking his head, "Three days."
Donna-Lou and Chet looked very somber.
"But we have water," Emma interjected.
"Yeah," Corry said as he jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "we have a whole bunch of water back there, remember?"
Emma looked at Corry and made a face, "And maybe we'll have to eat bugs."
Donna-Lou held a finger up, "Nobody's eating bugs!"
"Maybe we'll find some squishy caterpillars," Corry said.
Donna-Lou made a face and her son let out a belly laugh. Then he suddenly began coughing violently.
Donna-Lou placed her hands on his shoulders as he bent over. "Do you need some water?" she asked her son.
Emma started to say something and then she coughed.
Rory watched the kids, feeling helpless. And then his blood ran cold. He whirled around, looking at the dust that hung heavily in the air throughout the large cavern. He found himself clearing his own throat. It felt like sandpaper. He took a few steps, looking at the cavern floor. He took his flashlight and looked off to the sides of the cavern. He turned in circles, shining the light around, searching.
Chet coughed as he stepped up beside Rory, "What's wrong? What do you see?"
"It's what I don't see," Rory said.
"What do you mean?"
The guano," Rory said as he took a few steps in another direction.
"The bat poop? What about it?"
"Where is it?" Rory asked. He pointed off to the side, "Remember how it was all piled up...?"
Chet looked at where Rory was pointing. He took his flashlight and shone it at another spot. "Yeah. Where is it?"
"It's in the air," Rory said. "The explosion and the subsequent shock wave pulverized all those tiny grains–"
Donna-Lou's eyes shot open in alarm, "We're breathing in bat poop?"
"That can't be good," Chet remarked.
Rory shook his head, "No it's not. It's not good at all. Fungus and mold spores grow in the bat droppings. At the very least, it could mean histoplasmosis...."
"Hist...? What is that?" Chet asked.
"It's a fungal infection that affects the lungs," Rory explained. "Also known as cave disease or cave fever–"
"It's treatable, right?" Donna-Lou asked. She looked like she was about to panic.
Rory looked at her, "If treated in time...."
"If...treated in time? And we're stuck in here?" Donna-Lou whispered. Her face turned white as her son continued coughing.